Background of the invention is found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,919,803.
Definitions in the Background of the Invention section of any of the above-mentioned applications are also generally, but not restrictively, applicable herein.
For the purposes herein, the term “smartphone” will generally include any portable device that has both computational and communication capabilities.
The smartphone world is changing rapidly. Not only is device-resident computing power and memory increasing exponentially, but with access to the “cloud”, there is effectively an infinite resource for both storage and computing power. In addition, access to the Internet is now, for all practical purposes, ubiquitous. If a Wi-Fi hotspot, cell phone tower or infrastructure-located DSRC transceiver is not within range, a LEO satellite system is. Usually on the continental United States, multiple communication systems are simultaneously available.
Smartphones can keep up with these changes, but cars cannot. The average life of a vehicle is increasing and now exceeding ten years, making it a poor location of new technology, whereas people change their cell phones every year or so to get the latest technology. Furthermore, the smartphone is becoming an indispensible object to be carried by an increasing number of people in many cases replacing most, if not all, of the traditional functions of a wallet. The smartphone can have biometric sensors to identify and authenticate the possessor and thereafter it can act as the keys to the house, apartment, office and car and as the means of making payments replacing credit cards.
On the other hand, in a vehicle, various devices such as diagnostic sensors, occupant sensors, crash sensors, cameras, radars, and satellite antennas are necessary for the safe and efficient operation of the vehicle. These devices are bulky, must be precisely located and consume significant power and thus need to be mounted on the vehicle. However, in general, the technological evolution of these devices is slow compared with smartphones and their life is closer to that of the vehicle.